Ushaka Sea World staff called upon to assist rescue two Zambezi Sharks.

[News]

When Transnet staff noticed a Zambezi shark trapped within the drydock in the Durban Harbour over the weekend, they immediately stopped the draining process and sent out a call for assistance.

uShaka Sea World Lead Aquarist Rob Kyle went to the dry dock at sunrise on Sunday morning to assess the situation and noticed not one but two Zambezi sharks trapped within the dock.

A rescue team was assembled which included uShaka Sea World, Netcare 911 and Transnet staff.

With safety in mind the decision was made to drain the water level in order to virtually immobilize the sharks in the water.

“We remained out of the water until the water level was shallow enough to render the shark virtually motionless.

We then cautiously slid the stretcher underneath the shark and safely and securely contained it in the stretcher to prevent it from sliding out when it was being lifted out the drydock.

Once the shark was lowered onto the topside of the dock, the uShaka Sea World veterinarian gave the shark a quick health check before it was measured and tagged with a spaghetti tag.

The shark, which was a male, measured an impressive precaudal length of 220cm which means the shark weighed just shy of 200kgs,” said Rob.

The health inspection and tagging did not take more than a minute, and the shark was manually carried a short distance to the edge of the quay where it was released directly back into the harbour.

This procedure was repeated again for the second shark which was also a male but considerably smaller at 155cm precaudal length.

The procedure on the second shark went off as smoothly as the first and he swam off strongly after being released.

Both the animals had superficial abrasions and scuff marks on their bodies from rubbing on the bottom of the dock and bumping into the supports that are used to hold the ships upright.

None of the abrasions were deep enough to be of concern and it is expected that both sharks will make a full recovery in a short space of time.

uShaka Sea World would like to extend a big thank you to Netcare 911 for being on standby and for the Transnet team at the dry dock who were phenomenal.

Well done everyone.

KZN Marine Stranding Network Netcare911 @ilovedurban #zambezishark